Will I need more power for this?

[knopix]

I have a SeaSonic power supply, it has 380watts.

My current hardware -
Pentium D 2.8ghz
2gb DDR2 533mhz
nVidia 6800GT
2x 74Gb Raptors
1x 140Gb IDE
Creative X-FI sound card

I've never experienced any problems with power, and the machine is very stable.
However, I'd like to upgrade my computer.

Upgraded specs -
Intel C2D E6600
2gb DDR2 533mhz
ATI x1900
nVidia 6800GT
2x 74Gb Raptors
1x 140Gb IDE
Creative X-FI sound card

- basically I'm adding an additional video card and upgrading the processor

Will I need a new power supply?
How can I tell if the computer does not have enough power?

 

[tersome]

You have 25 amps total on the +12v line. It should be plenty, but if you're planning to use an x1900 (xt? gt?) and a 6800GT simultaneously, you could run into problems.

The seasonic seems fairly solid. You'll probably be OK.

 

[knopix]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I should add that I'm not going to put a lot of stress on the video cards ( i.e. no games, no video editing )
And there's probably going to be 4Gb of RAM (not 2), but I haven't decided yet.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I would encourage you to buy another ps with at least 36a on the 12v rail.

 

[doggyfromplanetwoof]

its fine

 

[stevty2889]

Kinda pushing it but you should be alright, as long as you aren't putting the video cards under heavy load.

 

[Captante]

Just curious ... why are you bothering with an X1900 if you don't plan on stressing the video card ... for example with heavy-duty gaming?

Also if you plan on trying to run two video cards, you'll have an easier time of it sticking with either Nvidia or ATI instead of both.

 

[knopix]

Originally posted by: Captante
Just curious ... why are you bothering with an X1900 if you don't plan on stressing the video card ... for example with heavy-duty gaming?

Also if you plan on trying to run two video cards, you'll have an easier time of it sticking with either Nvidia or ATI instead of both.

I don't want to buy a new video card, and I already have the x1900..not to mention I use Photoshop everyday.

Offtopic, I decided to go with the Xeon instead of the E6600. With the upcoming price cuts I can get a Quad-Core Xeon for the same amount as the E6600.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

xeons aren't 775 are they? If your not doing much with your computer and want to be sure the psu is enough, why not get a 6320? if you feel you need the speed later, just OC it.

 

[knopix]

Originally posted by: Comdrpopnfresh
xeons aren't 775 are they? If your not doing much with your computer and want to be sure the psu is enough, why not get a 6320? if you feel you need the speed later, just OC it.

Thanks for the suggestio, but I have already considered it and decided that the Quad-Core Xeon is worth the extra money.
I'm a developer and designer so I do a ton a lot of multi-tasking. I'll be running Vista x64 emulated through VMware inside of Linux.

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: knopix

Originally posted by: Captante
Just curious ... why are you bothering with an X1900 if you don't plan on stressing the video card ... for example with heavy-duty gaming?

Also if you plan on trying to run two video cards, you'll have an easier time of it sticking with either Nvidia or ATI instead of both.

I don't want to buy a new video card, and I already have the x1900..not to mention I use Photoshop everyday.

Offtopic, I decided to go with the Xeon instead of the E6600. With the upcoming price cuts I can get a Quad-Core Xeon for the same amount as the E6600.

Ahhh ... makes sense now!

You should still be able to run the two cards together with the 380 watt Seasonic, but you are going to be pushing the envelope a bit, especially with a quad-core Xeon.

Considering the cost of the rest of your components vs the roughly $70-$80 expense of a quality 500 watt PSU, if it were me I'd get somthing stronger like this:


Enhance ENP-5150GH 500W ATX12V Rev.2. @ $67 + shipping